An Albanian national who used an Italian man's passport to try and enter the UK has been handed a suspended jail term of one year.

Twenty-nine year old Selimi Berhan had used his own passport when travelling to Malta via Milan. However, last Saturday he made use of an authentic Italian passport belonging to Luigi Mollica to travel from Malta to London. This passport, unlike the man's own Albanian document, guaranteed him access to the UK.

In court the prosecution explained how last Saturday, the Maltese authorities were informed by security officers at Heathrow Airport that a passenger who had just landed on a flight from Malta was carrying a passport issued in the name of a third party. The accused was arrested by British police and sent back to Malta, the court heard.

The court, presided by magistrate Gabriella Vella, took note of the early guilty plea filed by the accused as well as his full cooperation with the police. It heard the defence argue that this case merited a suspended sentence rather than an effective jail term.

For these reasons, coupled with the particular personal circumstances of the accused, the court condemned the man to a year imprisonment suspended for one year.

Inspector Frankie Sammut prosecuted. Lawyer Victor Bugeja was legal aid.